The Nationals continue to inch closer to the National League East title.

With an early flurry, some sparkling defense and an astonishing four-hit, four-run effort from Trea Turner, the Nats defeated the Braves, 7-2, at Turner Field on Friday night. With the victory, Washington’s magic number to clinch the National League East crown dwindled to six games after the second-place Mets blanked the Twins, 3-0, at Citi Field.
The Nationals scored five runs over the first two innings against Braves rookie starter John Gant. Anthony Rendon drove in the first two runs with a single in the first. In the following inning, Turner belted a two-run homer, his fifth career dinger against Atlanta, before Daniel Murphy added an RBI double for his first of two RBIs.
Gant lasted 1 2/3 innings, becoming the seventh Braves starter to last fewer than five innings within the past 10 games, but Ryan Weber nearly shut down Washington for 4 2/3 innings of relief, allowing one run and fanning five — with all five strikeouts coming during a five-batter stretch from the third into the fifth innings.
“We had opportunities to score runs, and we just didn’t do it tonight,” Braves left fielder Matt Kemp said.
Max Scherzer won his 17th game of the season by pitching seven solid innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and striking out eight. It marked the third time in his career he’s won that many games in a season, including 21 in 2013 and 18 in ’14.
“He was great. He ran out of gas a little bit. He gave us all he had in the seventh,” Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. “He gave us all we needed. That was big. He won his 17th. That’s huge.”
Winning his 17th game wasn’t the first thing on Scherzer’s mind. He looked at the total team victory.
“Trea has his fingers all over it again,” Scherzer said. “Big hits out of everybody. Rendon in the first. The defense tonight. Murphy made two great diving plays to get guys out at first. Those balls could have snuck up there. … When you have your defense going for you like that, it makes it easy to pitch like that.”
Turner’s homer had an exit velocity of 104 mph and traveled a projected 408 feet from home plate, according to Statcast™. He also stole second and third base in the seventh inning to set up Murphy’s sacrifice fly. The rookie has produced at least three hits in five of the 11 games played against the Braves this season.
“I couldn’t tell you [why I have success against the Braves],” Turner said. “I don’t know, luck on my part. I had some bad games before when I faced them, and I figured out the adjustment I needed to make.” More >
The Braves recorded three extra-base hits through the first four innings, but the only one that led to a run was Kemp’s leadoff double in the second inning. The two-bagger was the 1,500th career hit for Kemp, who also singled ahead of Tyler Flowers’ sacrifice fly in the sixth inning.
“[Scherzer] is one of those guys who knows what he is doing,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “You see when he gets in trouble, that velocity spikes and it’s tough. You kind of want to stay even against a guy like that and give yourself a chance. But when he gets a lead like that, he’s really good.”
Murphy shines at plate, in field: In addition to his pair of hits, Murphy made two outstanding defensive plays, each saving a run. In the fourth inning, the second baseman made a nice diving play to throw out Blake Lalli after Dansby Swanson doubled, ending the inning.
Two innings later, Murphy made a lunging, backhanded snag of Swanson’s grounder and threw him out at first to end the inning with a runner on second.
After Gant retired just four of the 13 batters he faced, Weber proceeded to retire 13 of 16 and keep the Braves within striking distance. The right-handed reliever struck out five consecutive batters, including each of Washington’s first four batters, and was not charged with a run until Turner singled and stole his two bases before scoring on Murphy’s sacrifice fly off Ian Krol in the seventh. Flowers has thrown out just one of 57 opponents who have attempted to steal against him this year.
“Weber did a great job of covering the innings in that game,” Snitker said. “He got kind of locked in there, banging with strikes and hitting everything. That was good. We had a day off [on Thursday], but that’s the kind of game you can blow your bullpen up for the next three or four days down the road. So, that was huge what he did.”
Gio Gonzalez looks to win his 12th game of the season as the Nats continue their three-game series vs. the Braves on Saturday at 12:05 p.m. CT. In 11 of Gonzalez’s last 13 starts, the left-hander has allowed three earned runs or fewer, posting a 7-2 record in that span.
Josh Collmenter will make his Braves debut Saturday. Collmenter was acquired in exchange for cash from the Cubs earlier this week. The Braves are trying to find a temporary fix in their rotation while Mike Foltynewicz recovers from a bruised left calf.  Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast as part of the Atlanta Braves Radio Network beginning at noon..

Karson Young

Trailing 3 to 1 with 10 minutes remaining in the first half, it appeared that the Coffee County Central High School soccer team would suffer their first district loss of the year to Shelbyville on Thursday night. But the Lady Raiders responded to score 5 unanswered goals to escape with the 6 to 3 win.
Shelbyville was the clear aggressor in the first half outplaying the Lady Raiders in the first 29 minutes. The Eaglettes got goals in the 16th, 25th and 29th minutes to build a cushion that seemed insurmountable. A Sam Ellison goal in the 22nd minute was the lone tally for Coffee County until the 34th minute when Caitlyn Moore found the back of the net off an assist from Jenna Garretson. The Lady Raiders leveled the score in the 36th minute when Garretson punched a rebound in off a corner kick from Allie Amado.
In the second half, Moore added her 2nd goal in the 47th minute off a feed from Makenzie Anderson. Karson Young punched in a rebounded corner kick from Amado in the 62nd minute and Young buried a penalty kick in the 70th minute after Garretson was taken down inside the 18 yard box to close out the scoring.
The win improves the Lady Raiders record to 8-2-1 overall and 3 and 0 in district play. Coffee County travels to Gladeville on Saturday to take on Wilson Central in a non-district match. That match is set to get underway at 11 AM.

Senior John Parigger (Photo by John StClair – JohnStClairPhoto.com)

The Coffee County Red Raider golf team eclipsed the 50 win total for the season on Thursday at Bear Trace in a 4 team match. The Lady Raiders captured their 38th straight win as they stopped Franklin County in the district matchup held at Tims Ford State Park.
The Red Raiders fired a team score of 307 to outdistance Franklin County and Lawrence County. Tullahoma shot a 6 over 290 to win the 4 team match. John Parigger led Coffee County with a 1 over par round of 72 followed by Reid Lawrence who carded a 75. Samuel Prater fired a 77 and Austin Farris came in at 83. The Red Raiders record now stands at 51 and 14.
The Lady Raiders got a 74 from Ashley Gilliam and a 77 from Savannah Quick to beat Franklin County 151 to 172. Malia Stovall of Franklin County had the low round for the ladies as she carded a 70. The Lady Raiders record now stands at 45 and 3 on the season.
The Raider golfers travel to Murfreesboro on Tuesday for a match with Riverdale and Oakland at Indian Hills. That match was originally scheduled for Monday.